Over the years, and most recently with Awkward., MTV has tried its darndest to prove to the world that they "get" their teenage audience. It's no easy feat to capture the high school experience, but it shouldn't be rocket science, either. Let's take a look and see which of MTV's attempts at representing the four best years of our lives made the grade, and which were total failures.
Beavis and Butt-head (original series: 1993 - 1997)
Premise: An animated series about two idiotic, crude best friends whose lives revolve around TV, metal, fart jokes, nachos and trying to "score" with chicks.
Execution: Revolutionary, to say the least.
Grade: A-. Mike Judge will be speaking at Comic-Con about the new series, so stay tuned to be excited/disappointed about that.
Daria (1997 - 2001)
Premise: A spin-off of Beavis and Butt-head about a smart, cynical outsider who lives in a world of idiotic classmates and condescending adults.
Execution: Delightful, subversive, and addicting. Not to mention authentic and hilarious.
Grade: A
Undressed (1999 - 2002)
Premise: A soap opera dedicated to teen sex.
Execution: Impressive and before its time. It was nominated for two -- and won one -- GLAAD award.
Grade: A-, especially if you include those sexy promos with suggestive fruit.
Clone High (2002 - 2003)
Premise: A group of hormone-ridden high schoolers (who all happen to be clones of famous historical figures) try to hook up while fighting evil things like peer pressure and their legitimately insane principal.
Execution: Brilliant, but cancelled.
Grade: We say A, but then-audiences gave it something way closer to a C.
My Life As Liz (2010 - present)
Premise: In this quasi-reality series, Liz is proud geeky girl trying to survive life in a small town.
Execution: I'll just leave this here.
Grade: D, because a determined group of teens do seem to love this show and find a type of hero in Liz.
The Hard Times of RJ Berger (2010 - present)
Premise: A nerd with an enormous penis tries to have sex with hot girls. Or something.
Execution: It's hard for a series to prevail when the writers hate all of their characters. The word "grotesque" comes to mind.
Grade: F. And no, that's not an innuendo.
Skins (2011)
Premise: The US version of the wildly popular UK series about how teens actually live.
Execution: They say "controversial," we say "crappy". As realistic as this show might have been (and it was better than your average teen show in that regard), the writing just wasn't there.
Grade: D, since some episodes in the beginning were tolerable.
Teen Wolf (2011 - present)
Premise: A teen guy's life is changed forever when he is bitten by a werewolf and is forced to balance his supernatural problems with books and the ladies.
Execution: After watching the pilot, Teen Wolf could have gone really poorly, but the show has managed to be a perfectly watchable summer series.
Grade: B -- and that's a compliment!
It's Tubey Time! Make sure that your favorite shows, actors, reality stars and characters get the recognition they deserve by voting in our annual Tubey awards. It's where fans have total control over what rates as the best and worst of the past year in a variety of categories. Vote now!
MOST RECENT POSTS
Today's TWoP News: Wednesday, February 20, 2013
New Girl: Roomate Do's and Don'ts of the Week
Wednesday, February 20, 2013: American Idol
Today's TWoP News: Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Saturday Night Live: The Best Sketches of the Night
TV on DVD: Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013: Cult
I Want My DVD: Tuesday, February 19, 2013
BLOG ARCHIVES
Brilliant But Cancelled
January 2013
2 Entries
December 2012
1 Entries
November 2012
2 Entries
August 2012
1 Entries
July 2012
2 Entries
June 2012
2 Entries
May 2012
3 Entries
April 2012
2 Entries
March 2012
1 Entries
February 2012
1 Entries
January 2012
1 Entries
November 2011
2 Entries
October 2011
3 Entries
September 2011
2 Entries
August 2011
3 Entries
July 2011
2 Entries
June 2011
2 Entries
April 2011
4 Entries
March 2011
3 Entries
February 2011
2 Entries
January 2011
2 Entries
November 2010
1 Entries
October 2010
2 Entries
September 2010
2 Entries
July 2010
3 Entries
June 2010
2 Entries
May 2010
1 Entries
April 2010
3 Entries
March 2010
6 Entries
February 2010
2 Entries
January 2010
3 Entries
December 2009
1 Entries
November 2009
2 Entries
October 2009
2 Entries
September 2009
2 Entries
August 2009
5 Entries
July 2009
8 Entries
June 2009
5 Entries
May 2009
3 Entries
April 2009
2 Entries
March 2009
3 Entries
February 2009
2 Entries
January 2009
5 Entries
December 2008
2 Entries
November 2008
3 Entries
October 2008
4 Entries
September 2008
6 Entries
July 2008
5 Entries
June 2008
2 Entries
May 2008
7 Entries
April 2008
9 Entries
March 2008
1 Entries
February 2008
2 Entries
November 2007
1 Entries
Comments